Meet Indo-British Producer Neeraj Churi, Who Is 'Helping LGBTQ Community Through Feature Films'

Founder of Lotus Visual Production, Neeraj Churi is an Indo-British producer who works round the clock to produce feature films that reflect the LGBTQ community. He has earned numerous credits and accolades for his feature films, including Evening Shadows, Sisak, and Sheer Qorma, which features Shabana Azmi, Divya Dutta, and Swara Bhaskar in lead roles. Through the Kashish film festival, which is organised annually, Neeraj gives a handful of QDrishti Film Grant awards to aspiring queer filmmakers to help them achieve milestones in the industry.

Neeraj is an alumnus of the New York Film Academy and also holds degrees in Information Science Management, and has worked extensively in managing complex projects for top-tier financial institutions in the past. Through Lotus Visual Productions, Churi aims to bring stories of South Asian queer experiences to the screen. He claims he's done many projects for Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms but he likes to work on films that are made to be presented before various film festivals.

Neeraj said, "I work with writers and directors on getting movies made. While many writers and directors have made films on LGBT topics, there are not many producers who exclusively focus on LGBT subjects. My job is to ensure that LGBT films are made and are seen by many audiences in India and abroad."

Several Accolades In His Account

In his co-production, Sheer Qorma by Faraz Ansari was made, which has won its 55th international award. Whereas his Indian-based short film, My Mother's Girlfriend by Arun Fulara, won the prestigious Short Film Fiction award at the 2021 International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala. On the other hand, Neeraj is also working on many projects and has recently completed a few. The short film of his production 'Gair' by national award-winning filmmaker Nishant Roy Bhombarde premiered at New York Indian Film Festival in May 2022. The film explores intersectional themes of caste and sexuality.

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